"West Lake" Long Jin, 2019 from 喫茶去茶社 (chi cha qu tea house in Shanghai)

I recently received this "west lake" LJ from a friend in Shanghai. He tells me this is 2019 harvest.

Seems to me it is bud and 2-3 leaves predominantly. Shape and size are a bit heterogeneous. Color is evenly green-yellow. Hard to tell from pics, but it is a bit more yellow than green.

What you cannot tell from pics: there is white fluff on the side of container but not on leaves. Dry leaf has very little scent. When wet, there is a subtle scent of green beans.

I brewed gongfu style 7 g / 200 mL at 80 C for 30 sec / 30 sec / 40 sec / 50 sec / 1 min / 1 min 30 sec / 2 min / 5 min

Had acceptable taste and aromas for 5 steeps before tapering off.

Aromas of sweet green beans and some nuts are there. Taste is distinctively sweet (mostly fresh corn), but also has a slight aspartame sweetness. Minerality is strong providing good structure. There is also a mild umami. Almost no bitterness in taste, but there is definitely astringency on the tongue and throat long after swallowing until the 3rd steeping.

I suspect this is post qing ming and the overall grade is low. However, i feel this might be an heirloom cultivar instead of LJ 43 but cannot be sure. I am told this was expensive. This is definitely not worth the price if it is more than $10 / 100 grams.

Comments

Glenburn king single estate first flush 2019 from vahdam

Leaves are small and bud like. There are many broken leaves as well and leaves with holes indicating insect bite. This could explain some of the Muscatel. 1.8 teaspoon 350 mL water 90 C water Steep 1: 4 min Steep 2: 8 min Steep 3: indefinite time Light, flowery, herbal Some muscatel in nose Muscatel, herb, flowery hops, light wood notes in taste Lingering herbal, fresh hop and cooling mint I am told mint is often a sign of Assamica tea but these are supposed to be chinary.

Longfengxia High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea, Day 5, Lot 948, 2020 taiwan tea craft

From vendor: PICKING DATE May 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL Low BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Shanlinxi ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Nantou County PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin GARDEN ELEVATION 1750 m Review: Dry lead is intensely flowery with prominent yellow stems Brewed 5 to 7 grams/100 mL boiling water in kobiwako. Lower leaf is okay due to intensity of flavor but higher leaf has stronger sweetness in later steeps. For 5 g: Rinse / 55 s / 45 s / 55 s / 1:10 / 1:30 /2:30 Brewed leaves have strong pastry and tropical fruit Steeps 1-2: Taste of green mango, citrus, and baked pineapple pastry. Clean minerality and medium to thick mouthfeel. There is strong perfume of oily flowers, mainly rose and some lavender. At higher leaf to water (7 g per 100 mL) there is some slight green astringency. Steep 3-5: fruit notes are much more mild but still present and long lasting. Much more buttery. There is slight green brandy like astringency. At higher leaf to water ratio, frui...

2020 Competition Grade Jin Jun Mei Black Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

From vendor: Late March Harvest Tong Mu Guan Village (Fujian) Review: Strong yeast and honey suckle aroma from dry leaf. Lots of orange yellow powder from the small, tight buds. A small holed filter is necessary. Brew parameter: 4 g / 100 mL 90 C in porcelain Rinse / 10s / 10s / 15s / 35s / 1 min / 2 min / 5 min Strong honey and milk chocolate notes. Smooth and thick with stone fruit (peach) aromas and sweet yam flavors. Some vegetal notes develop in later steepings. Early steepings are quick and strong but drops off after 3rd steeping. Strangely, a pu-erh like wet pile funk is faintly present. This is not particularly pleasant. Western brewing is also acceptable at 1 g /100 mL for 3:30. However, the chocolate notes are much more mild when brewed in this way.

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